Newport Bermuda Race - Invictus on top

by Talbot Wilson on 21 Jun 2012 In the 2012 Newport Bermuda Race, although the Carkeek 40 ‘Decision’ owned by Steve Murray (New Orleans LA) was the top Onion Patch boat, the United States Naval Academy (USNA) TP52 ‘Invictus’ maintains first place for individual entries with a second in the 23-boat fleet. 'Invictus' had a first in the NYYC Annual Regatta June 9-10 in Newport.

The Onion Patch combines boats from all IRC classes in the Newport Bermuda Race. Results under IRC in the ocean race favored the more modern boats. ‘Decision’ just launched in 2012 and 'Invictus' a modern TP52 were followed by Lawrence Dicky (Greenwich CT) in his new Ker 43 ‘Ptarmigan’, Jim Madden (Newport Beach CA) in a Swan 601 ‘Stark Raving Mad’ and Hamnett Hill (Montreal CAN) in a new Marten 49 named 'Defiance'. The standings within the Onion Patch fleet in the Newport Bermuda Race were scored with a 1.25 multiplier.

Of the boats doing the whole series— racing in Newport, doing the Newport Bermuda Race and sailing the Royal Bermuda YC Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group— the TP52 ‘Invictus’ from the US Naval Academy leads ‘Ptarmagan’ by just 3.25 points going into Friday’s Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group at the RBYC.

Among the three-boat teams racing for the Onion Patch Trophy the NYYC Blue team of ‘Stark Raving Mad’, ‘Temptation-Oakcliff’ and ‘Dorade’ leads coming out of the Bermuda Race with 47.25 points. NYYC Red has 69.5 points led by Andrew Weiss’s ‘Christopher Dragon'. 'Carina' skippered by Rives Potts, and Jim Bishop’s ‘Gold Digger’. The USNA team in third with 73.25 points includes ‘Invictus’, ‘Defiance’ (NA23) and ‘Swift’.

The Onion Patch Series concludes Friday, June 22 with the RBYC Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group. The first race, a windward-leeward course, starts at 10:00 ADT in Bermuda’s Great Sound. It will be followed by a second race that is a 'Tour of the Islands' in the Great Sound the Granaway Deep, Port Royal Bay and Hamilton Harbour. The 23 Onion Patch Series entries will compete along with 11 boats just entered in the Anniversary Regatta.

Each yacht's individual final score in each event of the Onion Patch Series is determined by her finish position within the total Onion Patch fleet. The yacht’s score for the Onion Patch Series is the sum of the weighted points of all three events.

For races 1 and 2 of the Onion Patch Series (the first race of Saturday, June 9 and Sunday, June 10, 2012 of the NYYC Annual Regatta), the scoring was based on a formula that converted the yacht's corrected time into a time on distance (i.e., seconds / mile) number and the competitors ranked in order of the fastest sec / mile to the slowest sec / mile. Points are awarded according to ranking, and these points are used in the compilation of the overall scores in the series.

Each individual yacht's scores for the events are weighted as follows: the finish positions in the Newport Bermuda Race are multiplied by 1.25. The total points gained in the NYYC Annual Regatta are multiplied by 1.00 and the total points gained in the RBYC Anniversary Regatta are multiplied by 1.00. The lowest individual score wins.

Team scores are the sum of each team yacht's individual qualifying scores. The lowest team score wins.

Racing for the Onion Patch Series includes the first race each day in the 158th NYYC Annual Regatta presented by Rolex, the Cruising Club of America-Royal Bermuda YC Newport Bermuda Race starting June 15th in Newport and finishing several days later in Bermuda and the Royal Bermuda YC Anniversary Regatta presented by the Butterfield Group on June 22nd.

Onion Patch Series website

2012 ONION PATCH SERIES - ENTRIES
Yacht Name:	Sail Number:	Owner/Skipper:
Carina	USA 315	A. Rives Potts
Christopher Dragon	12204	Andrew Weiss
Cybele	USA 52045	Rick Burnes/David Rockefeller
Cygnette	32441	William J. Mayer
Decision	USA84001	Stephen Murray, Jr.
Defiance	IVB 4915	Hamnett Hill
Defiance	NA 23	Bryan Weisberg
Dorade	16	Matt Brooks
Gold Digger	USA49	James D. Bishop
Hot Ticket	52956	James E Hightower
Invictus	USA 60331	Pat Duffett
Isla	NY10	Henry S. May, Jr.
Nasty Medicine	BER 1000	Stephen J Sherwin
Old School	39532	J Ganson Evans
Passion 4C	Ger6262	Stefan Lehnert
Patriot	14571	Richard J. Isted
Ptarmigan	USA-79	Lawrence Dickie
Rocket J. Squirrel	59278	Chris Otorowski
Stark Raving Mad	61011	Jim Madden
Swift	NA 11	Steve Jaenke
Temptation-Oakcliff	50069	Art Santry
Vamp	USA43600	Leonard Sitar
White Rhino	USA52821	Todd Stuart/Collin Marshall
ANNIVERSARY REGATTA only
Belle aurore	Usa5191	Doug jurrius
Dragonfly	USA 50500	Colin McGranahan
Fearless	USA 39537	Shawn Ensor
Great Scot	87396	Darren Garnier
HAERLEM	USA 55-110	H Wisker
Joji	BER 205	Mike Tucker
Lilla	IRL 7600	Simon De Pietro
Nicole	USA 2021	T.C. duPont
Sadiiqi	BER 277	Pete Ramsdale
Team Tiburon (Wizard)	USA 4511	Mark E. Watston III
ZOÉ II	CAN52543	FRANCOIS BRASSARD